FEMA pays for puppets, bingo, report says

FORT LAUDERDALE -- At the Pinitos Learning Center in Boca Raton, disaster workers dressed as "Windy Biggie" and "Sunny" teach 30 preschoolers a song about how the wind is good, even during a hurricane.

"Windy Biggie is our friend.

"Windy Biggie is strong wind.

"She turns, turns, turns, turns around.

"She's knocking things to the ground."

This is FEMA tax money at work. It's also paying for Hurricane Bingo, puppet shows, "salsa for seniors," and yoga on the beach.

Last year, the Federal Emergency Management Agency awarded Florida $22.6 million for "crisis counseling" for victims of hurricanes Wilma and Katrina.

Florida's program, called Project H.O.P.E. -- Helping Our People in Emergencies -- is still in operation with about 450 workers across the state who spend much of their time leading games and performing shows for residents -- regardless of whether they're in crisis or even experienced the storms, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel has found.

The program, funded by FEMA but run by Florida's Department of Children & Families, is supposed to identify victims and help them recover from the "psychological aftermath" of the storms by providing emotional support and referrals for food, clothes and services.

But Project H.O.P.E. officials say they've had trouble locating victims because FEMA refuses to provide names or addresses of those who have sought disaster aid, citing confidentiality. Workers have searched for Wilma victims by driving around and looking for blue tarps on roofs.

The Katrina team, whose mission is to help Gulf Coast evacuees who have moved to Florida, scoured hotels and festivals, sometimes finding one or two "survivors" a week.

"Project H.O.P.E. gave them hope and guidance when they were living in despair," said Jennifer Beckman, project manager in Palm Beach County. "We are very proud of the services we offer and deliver."

FEMA relies on the Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration, or SAMHSA, a division of another federal agency, to evaluate the crisis-counseling programs.

"They've told us they approve it, and it's a success," FEMA spokesman Josh Wilson said of Project H.O.P.E.

Charles Figley, a psychologist and director of the Traumatology Institute at Florida State University, said federal officials should be spending the grant money on mental-health professionals to counsel victims of the disaster. Instead, "they guide the state into hiring these folks and having these bogus and untested programs that potentially do more harm than good," he said.

For some, especially children, "forcing them to focus on frightening memories" from the storm can be overwhelming, Figley said.

The Wilma and Katrina grants are scheduled to end Dec. 14.

"People seem to feel everyone has moved on," said Pat Kramer, a DCF mental-health administrator in Broward County.

Project H.O.P.E. officials said they are still working with many people in need -- those left homeless because of Wilma and seniors living in mold-infested homes.

FSU's Figley said the crisis-counseling program is well-intentioned but needs to be overhauled "because there's no evidence to show that it works."

"People go to restaurants and rate it as zero to five stars," he said. "I would give this half a star."